If you are like a majority of the people who exercise regularly, often the
question of what do you do first - Cardio workouts (Running, swimming,
biking, cardio machines at the gym) or Resistance training workouts (lift
weights or PT) is discussed.

This article will further discuss that question on
several different levels. What combination is best for the following common
exercise goals:

- Fat Metabolism

- Muscular Strength Gains

- Overall Health

- Fitness Test Training

Fat Metabolism - For optimal burning of
stored fat, you need to take into consideration nutrition and understand how
the body uses the foods we eat for energy. To

burn fat at optimal levels,
your body needs to be primed with water (not dehydrated), and used up most
of it glycogen stores (blood sugar energy - AKA Carbs). So, lifting weights
or doing high reps PT workouts is ideal for burning up the glycogen stores
as resistance training is metabolizing your sugar stores.

After about 20-30 minutes of resistance training, you
should be ready to burn fat at a higher rate during your cardio workout
providing you keep the heart rate in fat burning zone (use Karvonen Formula
or just keep your runs at just able to converse with minor discomfort). You
have to also consider what you ate prior to exercise. Did you eat a lot of
carbs? If so, it may take longer to get into fat burning mode, but you will
have plenty of energy to lift weights!

Muscular Strength Gains - As a former
power lifter, I thought a mile run was long distance and every now and then
I would run to the gym and try to lift only to be burned out and unable to
hit many of my previous high weight reps. Cardio activity burns a lot of
calories fast. In fact, you can burn up to 300-500 calories in half and hour
if you are really pushing it. As well, your glycogen stores can be lowered
significantly and your body will try to make more glycogen out of fat,
muscle, and remaining sugar in the body. If you like to do cardio first,
that is fine. You can get used to it, but it usually requires rest periods
and some sort of sugar / electrolyte replacement drink to help you through
the workout. Proper nutrition prior to working out cardio first /
resistance second is a must too. In fact, you should combine protein rich
foods and carbs like fruit to give you the energy needed to get through the
workouts. Better yet - just lift first if you want to be strong and
supplement your lifting with some cardio workouts for overall health and fat
metabolizing.

Overall Health - An overall health goal
will consist of fat reduction, lean muscle mass gains, and cardio vascular
function. So, you need to do both aerobic activity like walking or running
and anaerobic activity like weight lifting and calisthenics. For optimal
health results, you should mimic fat reduction method of resistance first /
cardio second. Many studies have shown that increased cardio function, fat
loss, and lean muscle gains can be accomplished by lifting first then
running. In fact, improved cholesterol blood counts can be gained by
cardiovascular first and resistance second. You can see much of these
health improvements by doing cardio or resistance ONLY, but to OPTIMIZE your
health performance and improve / prevent illnesses such as diabetes,
hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and other illnesses. PS - if you smoke, you
should stop. Smoking does not help at all with overall health gains. Like I
needed to tell you that.

Fitness Test Training - For my students
and I who train to ace fitness tests regularly, most fitness tests have a
strength component first (pushups, situps, pull-ups) and then a cardio
component like running, swimming, even biking. So, it is beat to train the
way you test. Resistance / PT first followed by cardio workouts. The
difference in fitness test training and the above goals, is that you will be
mostly anaerobic throughout the test and given a few minutes to recover for
the next exercise. Once again, nutrition is vital to acing fitness tests.
In fact, pre-carb loading a few hours prior to the fitness test and a steady
dose of carbohydrate replacement will help energy levels throughout your
test. Some tests are different and may have cardio at the front and back
ends of the test. The Navy SEAL test is 500 yds swim, pull-ups, pushups,
situps, and 1.5 mile run. This requires technique training which you can
read about in Ace Any PT Test

Special Thanks to Fit Deck and Stud Bar Pullups for donating to the
Heroes of Tomorrow Weight Room / Cardio Room project at the
Severna Park Community Center

Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author
certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the
National
Strength and
Conditioning Association. If you are interested in starting a
workout program to create a healthy
lifestyle - check out the StewSmith.com
Fitness eBook store and the Stew Smith article archive at StewSmith.com.